on Torture

I’m sure every civilized, thinking person will agree that torture is the domain of barbarians.

Yes, torture absolutely should not be allowed.  Unfortunately it is, and the number of people here in the USA who condone it is nothing short of astounding.

The US Constitution, the supreme law of this land, prohibits the use of cruel and unusual punishment.  Period.  It doesn’t say “don’t do it unless it’s expedient”, its eight amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.”  How is it possible to misinterpret such a categorical statement?

Yet people come out with unmitigated nonsense like, “They do it to us so we should be able to do it to them.”  When did two wrongs start making a right?

I’ve also heard multiple Americans say, “If we have to torture someone to stop an act of terrorism, I’m okay with that.”  This sounds almost logical, as do the most seductive of lies.  Unfortunately history has abundantly proven that tortured people do not tell the truth, they tell whatever it is they think their torturer wants to hear.  Are we actually naive enough to think some captured jihadist pawn knows the precise details of an impending act of terrorism?  Perhaps it’s time we stopped watching so many action movies and TV shows with no basis in reality?  Perhaps it’s time we stopped believing the hype and started learning from history?

There’s so much we could learn from history, but it’s such a difficult lesson…

Doing what’s right is never as easy as doing what’s expedient – but right is right forever, expedient is only temporarily convenient.

About C.G.Ayling

Musing misuser of words, lover of lyrical literature, author, occasional contrary thoughts. An honorable man’s name, in memoriam.
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